Plush pet toy

ABSTRACT

The invention is a pet toy with a plush character housed within a molded ball that allows a user to pull the entire plush toy out of the ball, revealing a surprise character. The plush characters are malleable and may be reinserted by the user to have the put pull the toy out repeatedly. Special blister packaging allows for about an inch of tail to stick out, but not reveal the character.

FIELD

The present invention relates generally to stimulating, encouraging and motivating games and methods of playing regarding pets, e.g. dogs and cats. More particularly, the invention relates to motivational games, toys and methods for assessing the pet training skills in the form of games or puzzles that incite pet interaction and memory skills.

The present inventive toy is a molded TPE ball with an opening in which a malleable plush character may be pulled from the ball. The ball and the packaging have openings so that about an inch of tail extends therefrom where a user can see and feel the tail materials, but the blister packaging obscures the character—thus being a surprise.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The novel design of the inventive toy is comprised of a molded TPE ball wherein a surprise plush character is contained within the ball and can be pulled out via openings in the top and bottom of the ball. The blister packaging is design so that a piece of the character's tail extends out so a user can see and feel the tail, but the colors of the tail tips are the same so each internal plush toy is a surprise once the package is opened by a pet owner.

The object of the present invention is to motivate and maintain interest of a pet. There are at least 3 three characters in the toy series. A monkey, a cheetah, and a unicorn. Certainly, additional characters can be added without adding new matter.

The toys are packaged in a blister wrap wherein the ball is visible within the clear plastic blister wrap, and a portion of internal toy tail with extends from an opening in the blister wrap. The colors of the tail tips are identical so that a user is surprised by which character they get from inside the ball. The blister packaging shows the characters in the series but does not disclose which character is inside.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention most closely corresponds with USPTO Class 119/707 wherein Class 119 relates to animal husbandry and sub-class 707 includes toys.

In its simplest form, the invention relates to a novel toy for pets wherein a pet can solve the puzzle of pulling the plush toy with extended tail out of the TPE ball enclosure. Thus, the pet owner also has two toys. The ball itself, and the plush toy within the TPE ball. The toy can then be reinserted for the pet to solve the puzzle again.

THE INVENTION Summary, Objects and Advantages

It well known that pets do experience a sense of boredom, and if not addressed, may manifest in negative behavior such as chewing furniture or going to the bathroom in undesirable locations in the pet owner's home. The inventive toy is designed to capture and retain a pet's interest whether the pet owner is away or home. The toy can be reinserted by the pet owner so that the puzzle requires solving again by the pet.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is described in further detail by reference to nine (9) drawings sufficient in detail to describe the invention in which:

FIG. 1 is an illustration of the front of the blister packaging showing the visible ball and section of tail;

FIG. 2 is an illustration of the back of the blister packaging showing the visible ball and section of tail;

FIG. 3 is a front illustration of the unicorn plush toy that resides within the TPE ball;

FIG. 4 is a rear view of the unicorn character;

FIG. 5 is an illustration of the front of the cheetah character;

FIG. 6 is an illustration of the rear of the cheetah character;

FIG. 7 shows the front of the monkey character;

FIG. 8 illustrates the rear side of the monkey character; and

FIG. 9 shows the TPE ball with opening.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION, INCLUDING BEST MODES OF CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows the blister packaging 10 as the user will be able to see the TPE ball 20 and the possible surprise characters that might be inside the ball 40. A short portion of the tail a bit over an inch in length extrudes from the blister pack 30 holding the ball 20. This section of tail is the same color as all characters in the series so that the internal character remains a surprise until a pet pulls it from a star-shaped opening in the ball 50 (this opening portion shown in detail in FIG. 9). There are two openings each in the top and bottom of the ball wherein a pet can pull the internal plush to therefrom. The ball is 4 inches in diameter and is hollow molded TPE.

FIG. 2 is a rear perspective of the blister packaging 10 again showing the TPE ball 20 and the possible surprise characters within the ball 40. The tail extension 30 is extruding from the blister pack so a user can see and feel it but cannot discern which character is contained inside the ball due to that section of tail being uniform to all the characters in the series. The tail portion extrudes through an opening in the ball itself 50 and extrudes from the blister portion of the packaging.

FIG. 3 is an example of the unicorn character 60. Each character is made of a plush material wherein the ears, horn and head are turned construction and excludes polyfill inside to avoid a potential hazard to pets who may tear the toy. The tails of each character 70 are varied rainbow pastel colors which change in gradient to the tip of the tail 30 which will always be a uniform color to each cater to maintain the surprise element of what might be inside the ball.

FIG. 4 is a rear view of the unicorn character 60 which has ears 80, arms 90, feet 100 and a strip of rainbow hued plush along the crown of the character's head 110 creating a fabric mane. Again, the rainbow hued tail 70 is illustrated and the tip of the tail 30 again will be uniform to all characters in the series.

FIG. 5 illustrates the front of the cheetah character 120 and which also has an extended rainbow hued tail 70 and wherein the tip of the tail 30 will always be a color uniform to each character's tail so that a user cannot tell which of the character options will be inside the ball. The spots of the cheetah 14 clearly differentiate it from other characters. Again, there is a strip of rainbow hued plush in for the form of a mane 130 as with the unicorn character.

FIG. 6 illustrates the rear of the cheetah character 120 and which also has the extended rainbow hued tail 70 and wherein the tip of the tail 30 will always be a color uniform to each character's tail so that a user cannot tell which of the character options will be inside the ball. The spots of the cheetah 140 clearly differentiate it from other characters. Again, there is a strip of rainbow hued plush sewn in for the form of a mane or hair 130 as with the unicorn character.

FIG. 7 is an example of the monkey character 150. The monkey has an embroidered face 170, however the facial features of all characters may also be printed on the character. Certainly, it can also be appreciated that multiple characters can be made using the inventive designs. The tail 70 similar to the other characters has the one-inch protruding section 30. The monkey has a section of plush hair 160 sewn into the top of the head.

FIG. 8 is the reverse side of the plush monkey character 150 and the rainbow hued tail 70 with a uniform colored tip 30.

FIG. 9 is an enlargement of the TPE ball 20 without packaging or character features. The star-shaped opening 50 is where the tails extends from, again only showing an inch or so of each tail so that the character pulled therefrom is unknown at purchase. The molded product line logo 180 “Outward Hound” is shown as molded into the TPE ball. 

1) A pet toy comprising: a) A malleable plush toy housed within a TPE ball with a star-shaped opening to extract the plush toy from the ball and wherein blister packaging surrounding the ball also has an opening wherein part of the plush toy's tail extends approximately an inch out of the packaging so as to allow a user to see the tail but not determine the plush toy shape or character inside, and which reveal only occurs upon opening of the blister packaging to remove the ball therefrom and thus allow a user to fully pull the plush toy from within the TPE ball via its star-shaped opening molded into the ball; b) Plush toy characters with facial features, appendages, and hair features wherein an extended tail attached to the body of a character is mostly encased within the ball wherein approximately one inch of tail extends therefrom and is meant to be used to pull the plush toy from the ball; c) Multiple plush characters are obscured by the blister wrap packaging, so each toy is a surprise to the user; and d) Plush toys which may be reinserted to the star-shaped opening in the ball. 2) A pet toy as in claim 1 wherein the ball is molded TPE with a star-shaped opening as results in the molding process which is designed to allow a user to pull a plush toy located inside therefrom. 3) A pet toy as in claim 1 wherein the plush animal is unstuffed and formless creating a malleable toy which fits thorough the ball opening. 4) A pet toy as in claim 1 wherein the blister packaging surrounds and encompasses the entire ball with the exception of an opening for an approximately one-inch section of the plush toy's tail to extended therefrom. 5) A pet toy as in claim 1 wherein a user pulls the piece of tail and the entire plush toy will be removed via the star-shaped hole in the ball, and the character is then revealed. 6) A pet toy as in claim 1 wherein the plush toy may be fully reinserted into the ball for removal by the pet in an unlimited number of times 